The present invention generally relates to a device for holding and supporting a bag. More particularly, the invention relates to a container and blank therefor for storing and transporting large quantities of bags, especially those made of flexible film, which container converts to a device for holding and supporting one or more such bags in an open and stable condition while goods are placed thereinto.
Bags made of flexible film such as polyethylene, polypropylene or the like, have achieved limited popularity in both home and commerical settings, and have proved especially desirable for packaging food articles in such settings. Supermarkets, groceries and the like have begun using relatively small flexible film bags to supplement paper bagging by what amounts to individually wrapping potentially leaky items such as meat, fruit, dairy and frozen food products. Such bags are not only useful to prevent potential leaks but are also typically more economical than are paper bags. More recently, supermarkets have begun to recognize that these advantages could well be put to more extensive use by using larger flexible film bags to replace the heavy weight large brown paper grocery bags for use at retail check-out counters for customer convenience to carry away a number of differently sized and shaped items in a larger, easily transportable package. These larger flexible film bags typically have holding means such as handles, strings, slits or slots. Especially popular are flexible film bags of the so-called tee-shirt variety described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,180,557.
It would be advantageous to use such flexible film bags as primary packing bags rather than in conjunction with paper bags since such flexible film bags are cheaper than paper bags and use of such flexible film bags would also doubly insure against leaks or possibly eliminate the need for double bagging altogether. However, such bags have one serious drawback to being used as primary packing bags in that they do not have enough stiffness to be self-standing or self-supporting. This drawback necessitates attempting to fill the bag either by laying it horizontally on its side, which is undesirable from a packing viewpoint, or by manually holding the bag vertically while holding it open, which is awkward and inefficient.
One attempted solution to these drawbacks is to provide a mechanical support rack to vertically hold the bag open for filling. Currently available support racks are of permanent construction and offer limited flexibility, being designed to fit a particular bag size and normally requiring that the rack be anchored to the check-out counter or an adjacent shelf. Installing such support racks requires the installer to make a significant commitment both of funds to purchase and install such racks as well as of space to permanently commit counter and/or shelf space for such racks. These drawbacks tend to negate the economical incentive to use such plastic bags in place of the traditional large paper bags.
By the present invention, the packaging container in which the flexible film bags are transported and stored in bulk is designed to be readily converted into a sturdy but impermanent flexible film bag support rack which is free-standing, disposable, portable and inexpensive, as well as of a size that is best suited for the bags that had been stored in bulk in the packaging container from which the bag support rack was converted.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a support rack for flexible film bags.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a support rack for flexible film bags which is economical and easy to construct.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a support rack for flexible film bags which is also a bulk packing container for such flexible film bags.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a support rack for flexible film bags which is portable, free-standing and disposable.